From: Ida Heath (spike@defuniak.com)
Date: Mon Aug 02 2004 - 17:00:30 PDT
What kind of a welder/generator was it Kenny? I have one for sale,
Sonny
----- Original Message -----
From: <Recovry4x4@aol.com>
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 8:32 AM
Subject: [MV] M887 is finally home (my trip)
> Well, the M887 contact maintenance truck is finally in the yard, albeit
still
> on the trailer. Saturday I loaded my trailer with bartering stock and
loaded
> the truck with wife and baby and headed 8 hours up the road to GA. I got
this
> truck as part of a deal with a Wayne Harris. I'm not a Dodge guy but the
M880
> has always had a spot somewhere in my heart, maybe because they're cheap.
> Anyway, made the trip up and got there yeaterday around 11am. Wayne was
helping
> another guy who just picked up a few items so I went poking around his
yard. Now
> Wayne lives along a tree line and has a wealth of stuff you can see in van
> bodys, shelters, sheds, lean tos, trailers and so on, Besides that, the
stuff
> goes equally as far back in the woods. You could literally walk around
there for
> days and not see everything. I only had a short time so I took in the
sights
> and went back to the truck. Now the M887 supposedly has a valve train
problem
> but does run (somewhat). I took a look at it and was suprised to see
11,000
> miles on the clock. A quick look at the pedals confirmed that it's
probably
> original. Had a little rust on one of the fender bottoms but looks
surprisingly
> nice. Now I knew that the bed was off the truck and that I would have to
slide
> in back on but I didn't remember that the big M816 wrecker Wayne has was
not
> running. With 2 bumper jacks, (I now have a new respect for the almost
extinct
> bumper jack), a supply of concrete blocks and some 12' 4x4s Wayne and I
proceed
> to jack up the body off of another crippled M880 and pull the truck out
from
> underneath it with his M151A2. I backed the running (barely) M880 under
the
> bed and lower it right down on the frame. We had to take a break about 3/4
of
> the way through. It was pushing the mid 90s and humidity over 90%. I now
know
> I'm not as young as I used to be. Got the body on, lined it up, dropped 2
bolts
> in it and threw a ratchet strap around it to keep it on. Pullled it up on
the
> trailer and off I was on my 8 hour journey home. When I was panting and
faint
> while installing the body I was thinking that I don't like the truck too
much.
> But 8 hours of looking at it in the mirror makes you think of different
> thing. Being an off roader at heart certain things pop into your head. I
kept
> seeing the 37" HMMWV tires in my visions. I shouldn't be lifting this
truck but
> darn, it sure sounds cool. Today, I'll unload it, bolt the body down, put
the
> back bumper back on, hook up the lights and start troubleshooting the
engine. I
> think I have a diamond in the not so rough here! Now if only I could find
a
> righteous deal on the welder/generator that goes in the back!
> Kenny
>
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